Engaging Students to be Friendly and Mitigate Conflict to Prevent Bullying

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Engaging Students to be Friendly and Mitigate Conflict to Prevent Bullying among School-Aged Children
Bullying in schools continues to be an issue of concern not only in America but also around the world. Various measures have been put in place to prevent bullying among school-aged students, but the persistency of the issue shows that these current measures are not effective enough. According to Marsh, every year, about 20-29% of students in the United States (US) get caught-up up in bullying either as victims or bullies (4). In addition, while bullying happens in all grades, it becomes more prominent in adolescence. StopBullying.gov reveals that the prevalence of bullying among students aged 12-18 years in the US is 20%, while the global prevalence is about 33%. These statistics show that there is that must be done to prevent bullying, especially because bullying contributes to feelings of rejection, isolation, and depression, which can further contribute to suicidal ideation or behavior (StopBullying.gov). In addition to the existing bullying prevention measures, engaging students to be friendly and mitigate conflict can reduce the prevalence of bullying among school-aged students.
The fight against bullying starts with the ability of school-aged children to engage in open and friendly dialogue about bullying not only with their families and teachers but also with their peers. They need to understand what bullying is for them to know when it is happening so that they can participate in its prevention. According to Duckworth et al., the best way to achieve this is to create a safe and nurturing environment that promotes dialogue at school and in homes (10). Through open dialogue, teachers and parents can engage school-aged children on how to speak and treat their peers kindly and how to be empathetic to others. When students are friendly, the likelihood of one student being mean to another reduces significantly. Also, engaging students in dialogue to promote friendliness can ensure that even when the student cannot stand up for someone being bullied, they can at least make friends with them to eliminate their feelings of isolation and rejection. In addition, such open and friendly dialogues empower school-aged children to be brave and speak up about bullying incidents to their parents and teachers. According to StopBullying.gov, victims of bullying often think that their bullies are people with more social influence and the ability to make other students perceive them differently, more so negatively. As a result, they fear speaking up about bullying incidents. However, creating a safe and nurturing environment that promotes friendly dialogue can eliminate this fear and encourage victims and bystanders to speak up.
Additionally, engaging adolescents can be a targeted approach to preventing bullying. Bullying is more prominent in adolescence (Marsh 4), and as such, it is important to intervene during this stage of life and address any bullying that arises. Adolescence is a pivotal stage in life; students start forming meaningful relationships with their peers. According to Neto et al., adolescents are more likely to form groups as part of their social development (...